


Gatekeeper

by JikuDriverVoice_RiderCrime



Category: Kamen Rider Zi-O
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-30 20:45:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17835881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JikuDriverVoice_RiderCrime/pseuds/JikuDriverVoice_RiderCrime
Summary: There are sounds you don't want to listen to in the dead of night. There are sometimes things you can do to stop them.





	Gatekeeper

**Author's Note:**

> I read about an interview with Watanabe a little while back where he said he thought of Geiz and Woz as having been Oma Zi-O's retainers together in 2068. Guess we'll find out if that's actually canon or not at some point?

Of all his duties as retainer, night watch of Oma Zi-O’s bedroom door was Geiz’s least favourite. It wasn’t just that it wasn’t his usual duty- The normal royal guards were more than enough of a security display, but tonight they were posted further out in the castle. He couldn’t say Oma Zi-O wanting a night of privacy was objectionable in and of itself, though he disliked the increasing frequency of these nights.

The noises, however, were a burden.

The noises coming from inside the room were mostly those of his fellow retainer, Woz, private noises that only he was trusted to overhear. Some he could guess at- this one he thought might be the result of a nip at an ear, that one a furtive squeezing hand- and some were loud and unmistakable.

Geiz had been afraid, after seeing the pair kissing in the gardens, that Oma Zi-O would someday demand the same attention from him. There had been no need to worry about that, in the end- Oma Zi-O had eyes only for Woz. Nor did Geiz care to worry about Woz’s well-being after he’d pulled Woz aside, shaking with rage at the old man’s wandering hands, only to be informed by his smug former friend of who had made the overtures to whom.

Almost the worst of it was realising the secret whispers and giggles Woz had once shared with Geiz were now for Oma Zi-O alone. Perhaps as bad was Woz’s accusation of jealousy, which made Geiz want to scream and tear every page out of the stupid new book Woz had been given.

In the end it had been a bitter blessing, he guessed. Once he’d stopped talking to Woz so much, he started listening to the growing noises outside the palace walls- the protest chants, the shouting, the singing, the gunshots, the howling- and he realised the awful stupidity of his life- and how could the those two possibly carry on like that when out in the streets the people were suffering so much-

For the sake of the noises outside, he listened intently to the noises inside, counting seconds. During a terrible long quiet he ran in his mind, up this and down that stairway, through doors and out to the mazines before he could be stopped, before Oma Zi-O yelled out and Woz could notice something amiss in his awful, sharp way. The day was coming when he would do it all for real, and stop the devastation before any of it could begin. But he’d seen Oma Zi-O in battle enough to know he’d have a single shot at the stealing the driver, and failure meant death for so, so many.

But tonight, again, Geiz listened to the changing noises and wished he could sleep as easily as others did.


End file.
